Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Lakeview Orchestra will perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 on December 3rd, 2019 at the Athenaeum Theatre.
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809 – 1847)
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was, by any measure, a creative prodigy. It is one thing to mimic adults who put words in your mouth, or play music written by others, but it is entirely another thing to actually write those words and compose that music yourself. While it is true that Wolfgang Mozart, Frederic Chopin, and Alexander Scriabin all composed some first-rate music before they were 16, the fact remains that their early music was derivative– that is, based on pre-existing compositional models. In no way is that statement meant to demean these miraculously talented composers. But not even Mozart started composing genuine masterworks until he was 18, and as we all know, Mozart was a musical freak. This brings us to the extraordinary case of Felix Mendelssohn. Simply put, when it came to child prodigies, Mendelssohn left them all in the dust – even the original boy wonder, Wolfgang Mozart.
Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor stemmed from a deep friendship and collaboration with the esteemed violinist Ferdinand David (1810 – 1873). Mendelssohn’s violin concerto was the first in a distinguished series of Romantic era violin concertos written by pianist-composers with the assistance of eminent violinists (others being by Schumann, Brahms, Bruch, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořák). Unlike most composer-musician relationships, Mendelssohn and David’s was a long one. They met at an early age (15 and 14 respectively), and the two kept up a close relationship throughout their lives.
It is no surprise that in 1835, shortly after his appointment as Music Director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Mendelssohn secured the concertmaster position for his friend, David. Three years later, in July 1838, Mendelssohn wrote to him saying, “I would like to compose a violin concerto for next winter. One in E minor keeps running through my head and the opening gives me no peace.” Although Mendelssohn may have wished the concerto to be completed within two years, by 1839, he was frustrated with his progress. He reported to David, “This task is not an easy one. You ask that it should be brilliant, and how can anyone like me do this? The whole of the first solo is to be for the E string.” With David’s help, the concerto was eventually completed in 1844, six years after its inception. David was responsible both for the cadenza and for giving frequent advice regarding technical matters through the compositional process. Sadly, Mendelssohn was too ill to attend the successful premiere on March 13, 1845, which was conducted by Niels W. Gade (1817 – 1890) and featured David as the soloist. However, Mendelssohn did have the opportunity to conduct his violin concerto with his dear friend as soloist, on October 23, 1845.
From the beginning of the collaboration, David and Mendelssohn had agreed that this concerto should not be a vehicle for empty showmanship. With this guideline, the outcome was a serious, exquisite, and elegant essay in the romantic concerto genre, ultimately ranking among the finest violin concerti written in the nineteenth century. The concerto is written in classical poise but melodic suavity and refined romantic feeling. Simply put, it is the epitome of Mendelssohn’s compositional style. When the concerto was ready to be premiered, David anticipated it would be well-received by the community, commenting to Mendelssohn, “This is going to be something great! There is plenty of music for violin and orchestra, but there has only been one big, truly great concerto [Beethoven] and now there will be two!” Mendelssohn instantly retorted, “I am not competing with Beethoven.”
The Mendelssohn violin concerto bears no resemblance to the Beethoven violin concerto. Its three movements are played without pause. Additionally, the concerto completely discards the usual orchestral introductory exposition. Instead, a soft murmuring of the strings commences the concerto with the solo violin entering seven beats later. The violin solo melody is soaring and restless, and it only intensifies as it develops.
What also makes this concerto unique for the time is that Mendelssohn’s development of the work provides a structural surprise. Mendelssohn moves the cadenza (a long and virtuosic violin solo) from its traditional place at the end of the first movement to a new location at the end of the development. The recapitulation following the cadenza enters from the orchestra with the soloist continuing an arpeggiated figure derived from the cadenza. The solo violin is clearly collaborating melodically with the orchestra rather than seizing the stage (typical of a violin concerto), revealing one of the concerto’s features of interlocking partnership between the two forces of the solo violin and orchestra. As the first movement fades into the background, a solo bassoon, holding one note from a cadential chord, bridges us immediately into the second movement.
The second movement offers a tender theme sung by the soloist as its main subject. However, even here Mendelssohn surprises us with a middle section spinning a minor tune over bustling metric-like harmonic notes providing significant contrast to the opening calm and serene motif. With the shortest of pauses, the final movement is preceded by a recalling of the opening theme of the concerto refreshed by new accompaniment. These fourteen bars of transitional material bridge us to the concluding brilliant finale. Commenced by the brass, the soloist answers with lightly scampering arpeggios in the most playful of styles. It is this that is quintessential Mendelssohn. A new, bright theme from the violin dances over a light accompaniment from the orchestra. Echoes of Mendelssohn’s popular work A Midsummer Night’s Dream are artfully referenced in the orchestration, eventually leading to a continued collaboration with the solo violin and orchestra until a dazzling conclusion.
In 1906, one year before his death, the eminent violinist Joseph Joachim (who assisted Brahms on his violin concerto) responded to a toast at his 75th birthday party by stating that, “The Germans have four violin concertos. The greatest, most uncompromising is Beethoven's. The one by Brahms vies with it in seriousness. The richest, the most seductive, was written by Max Bruch. But the most inward, the heart's jewel, is Mendelssohn's.”
Program Notes by Luke Smith.
Lakeview Orchestra will perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 on December 3rd, 2019. The Stage Is Set >>>